House Passes Amendment To Limit US Military Involvement In Syria

And it was surprisingly bi-partisan and almost unanimous:

With little argument, the House of Representatives approved measures Wednesday that would prevent the Obama administration from spending money on U.S. military operations in Syria without consulting Congress and would forbid funding U.S. military or paramilitary operations in Egypt.

The measures, part of the House’s $598 billion defense bill, were supposed to be contentious issues exposing bipartisan rifts between interventionists who want to give Obama a free hand in dealing with the civil war in Syria and unrest in Egypt and war-weary lawmakers concerned that U.S. troops will be dragged into more military actions.

But both amendments were approved on voice votes with only scant dissent.

On Syria, lawmakers passed an amendment by Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fla., that would forbid any military action in Syria if it violates the War Powers Resolution – which requires the president to consult Congress before committing U.S. forces to battle or placing them in situations where hostilities are imminent.

This is a major slap in the face for President Obama , who was gearing up to repeat in Syria the same idiocy he put into action in Libya.

This amendment doesn't affect throwing our tax dollars away in the form of weapons for the president's al-Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood allies in Syria, but it would definitely setting up a no-fly zone or using U.S. ships to launch attacks on sites in Syria or using U.S. troops in Jordan in any way to help the rebels.

And conservative Republicans and Left-leaning progressive Dems are on the same side in this one.

“I believe without a shadow of a doubt this is one of the most insane policies that borders on madness – the United States to give funding, training and arms most likely to al Qaida in Syria doesn’t make any sense,” said Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. “This is absolute madness.”

Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., agreed, calling the situation in Syria “chaotic.”

“Distinguishing between the good rebels and the bad rebels is impossible,” Welch said on the House floor. “The notion that we can have a micromanaged approach and pick the good guys, and arm them, and not have any reasonable . . . expectation that the arms will get into bad hands I think is naive.”

A similar amendment by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky that would prohibit the U.S. from using money authorized in the defense bill to fund military operations in Egypt or to fund individuals, groups or organizations also passed by voice vote.

It's a pity the House didn't have it's act together to do this on Libya, but perhaps they finally learned something about this president when it comes to his foreign policy ineptness.